Why are people so harsh on old shows? [Archive]

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mattiasflgrtll6

07-13-17, 09:42 PM

I've noticed in some places, people are almost ridiculously harsh on shows aside of like Seinfeld and All In The Family which are old, that they have "aged" badly or have "poor" clichéd writing. But I just don't really see it. Sure the writing can be clichéd sometimes, but they still brought us many great iconic characters such as Urkel, Arnold Jackson, Al Bundy, Alex Keaton, Fonzie, Tony Micelli, just about anyone from the main cast of The Golden Girls... If the writing was really that bad, how did they manage to create so many characters people know and love?

I don't know, it just pisses me off whenever I say I like an old show I get laughed at or even some really insulting comments just because it's not... ****ing Modern Family or whatever.

Dani8

07-13-17, 09:43 PM

MASH is probably my favourite show of all time.

Joel

07-13-17, 09:51 PM

Because they are embryos of unhatched chickens, most likely.

Seriously, I've been around people that are disgusted by anything older. I guess you can't really hold it against people too much. I remember I hated anything before 1976, the year I was born, back when I would watch movies all of the time as a pre-teen.

Sometimes I think older people are terrified of those older shows because it reminds them of how old they are. I've gotten anxious seeing some older shows. I have different thoughts at different times. Sometimes I embrace it and love it or at least laugh at it, other times I wanna just take a long nap and forget I'm not super young anymore.

Who knows? :)

iank

07-13-17, 09:55 PM

I think a lot of it is just a desperate desire to believe that whatever is "current" and "modern" must somehow be inherently superior to what's gone before (particularly if you're part of the younger generation).
It's very rarely the case of course...

Joel

07-13-17, 10:01 PM

I don't know, it just pisses me off whenever I say I like an old show I get laughed at or even some really insulting comments just because it's not... ****ing Modern Family or whatever.

Wait, is Modern Family that show that helped usher in the non laugh track sitcom? If it's the same show I'm thinking of, they really need to bring that laugh track in because it was grating on me and I literally only saw about 2 minutes of it by accident.

Captain Steel

07-13-17, 10:01 PM

https://i.makeagif.com/media/5-05-2015/dA4ZDC.gif

iank

07-13-17, 10:05 PM

Wait, is Modern Family that show that helped usher in the non laugh track sitcom? If it's the same show I'm thinking of, they really need to bring that laugh track in because it was grating on me and I literally only saw about 2 minutes of it by accident.

I really miss the old style sitcom, these modern types seem to me to be more interested in showing how "clever" and "sophisticated" the program makers (think they) are than in actually being funny.... that show being an excellent example. :p

Joel

07-13-17, 10:10 PM

I really miss the old style sitcom, these modern types seem to me to be more interested in showing how "clever" and "sophisticated" the program makers (think they) are than in actually being funny.... that show being an excellent example. :p

So it is the show I'm thinking of..I knew it. Yeah, I agree. Everything now is so, I don't know..smarmy? Is that the word? Like I feel the general comic ingredients are either over the top played with a fatally hip cool immediately rushed into another line of dialog as if it's so funny and slick that "we'd better segue quick to hammer that joke"...or the feeling is the popular reaction of "okaaaayyyyyyy..." as if everything has to raise an eyebroaw or is "weird"...just seems snotty and very uninfotrmed, lacking any kind of history.

I'll just say: ALIENS HAVE TAKEN OVER THE PLANET.

Citizen Rules

07-13-17, 10:13 PM

iank

07-13-17, 10:23 PM

Most of the stuff I watch is at least around 20 years old. There's a couple of exceptions, like Person of Interest and Elementary, but I find a lot of modern shows deeply uninteresting.

So it is the show I'm thinking of..I knew it. Yeah, I agree. Everything now is so, I don't know..smarmy? Is that the word? Like I feel the general comic ingredients are either over the top played with a fatally hip cool immediately rushed into another line of dialog as if it's so funny and slick that "we'd better segue quick to hammer that joke"...or the feeling is the popular reaction of "okaaaayyyyyyy..." as if everything has to raise an eyebroaw or is "weird"...just seems snotty and very uninfotrmed, lacking any kind of history.

I'll just say: ALIENS HAVE TAKEN OVER THE PLANET.

"Smarmy" is exactly the word for it, thank you. :)

Captain Steel

07-13-17, 10:27 PM

mattiasflgrtll6

Welcome to my world:p All the TV shows I watch are old! Really old. I'm just finishing Season 3 of the Love Boat, before that I watched Green Acres, before that The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis, before that MASH, before that Third Rock From the Sun, before that Laverne & Shirley. And of course all of the Star Trek TV series.

I will be starting season 1 of Happy Days as soon as my library get in the DVDs.

Yes I like old TV shows:cool:

Hope this isn't a spoiler - but I loved Happy Days when it started out as a period piece that focused on the era of the late 50's early 60's... but then something happened where the series seemed to almost catch up to itself in time!

Characters began sporting modern (70's) hairstyles and it seems like they just decided to mostly drop the idea that this was about an era (yet they maintained certain aspects which gave the whole thing a bizarro-world kind of juxtaposition where it was like what if a bunch of 70's people still occasionally had one foot that would slip into the greaser era?)

The plots were no longer about the coming-of-age dilemmas and adventures of teenagers living in the early years of rock & roll or even about the transition into the cultural revolution of the 60's, but turned into strange character-centric circus acts.

Somehow this all revolved around the evolution of Fonzie and the fact that he went from an enigmatic, almost silent rebel-without-a-cause style motorcycle rider who wore a pale jacket to a leather-clad egomaniac with magical super powers!

I don't know if the time-slide began to happen before or after the literal "jumping of the shark" - but that series gave us a meme that's become a historical reference to television & entertainment media.

Dani8

07-13-17, 10:34 PM

One of the best shows I ever saw

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T40mDHDKqWM

Joel

07-13-17, 10:38 PM

One of the best shows I ever saw

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T40mDHDKqWM

Looks good.

Can I assume this is a very well written and dramatic show with some well feathered in comedy?

Dani8

07-13-17, 10:41 PM

Looks good.

Can I assume this is a very well written and dramatic show with some well feathered in comedy?

Eek no comedy. Full on drama about Claudius. I saw this when I was a kid and still remember it as pretty graphic. C section anyone?

iank

07-13-17, 10:42 PM

I keep meaning to check that out.

Dani8

07-13-17, 10:52 PM

I keep meaning to check that out.

Might be a bit dated now but it was pretty ground breaking at the time. Derek Jacobi was amazing.

Citizen Rules

07-13-17, 10:53 PM

Hope this isn't a spoiler - but I loved Happy Days when it started out as a period piece that focused on the era of the late 50's early 60's... but then something happened where the series seemed to almost catch up to itself in time!

Characters began sporting modern (70's) hairstyles and it seems like they just decided to mostly drop the idea that this was about an era (yet they maintained certain aspects which gave the whole thing a bizarro-world kind of juxtaposition where it was like what if a bunch of 70's people still occasionally had one foot that would slip into the greaser era?)

The plots were no longer about the coming-of-age dilemmas and adventures of teenagers living in the early years of rock & roll or even about the transition into the cultural revolution of the 60's, but turned into strange character-centric circus acts.

Somehow this all revolved around the evolution of Fonzie and the fact that he went from an enigmatic, almost silent rebel-without-a-cause style motorcycle rider who wore a pale jacket to a leather-clad egomaniac with magical super powers!

I don't know if the time-slide began to happen before or after the literal "jumping of the shark" - but that series gave us a meme that's become a historical reference to television & entertainment media.No, not a spoiler I've seen Happy Days before when it first ran on TV...I agree with you that the show took a turn for the worse when Fonzie became the center of each episode. That's when it lost the feel of the 1950s and like you said becomes a strange mix of 70ish looks, set in the past.

I don't plan on watching the later episodes. I liked Fonzie's character the first few years, but later he became an obnoxious cartoon, with magic powers like you said.

Joel

07-13-17, 11:05 PM

Eek no comedy. Full on drama

Oooohhh noooooo :babbling:

Sir Toose

07-13-17, 11:24 PM

Sometimes I think older people are terrified of those older shows because it reminds them of how old they are.

LOL, yeah they really shiver me timbers.

Favorite ever TV shows (still watch them)
Columbo
Hawaii 5-0 (the old one)
The Rifleman
All in the Family

Been watching Dynasty (again) on Prime. Amazing how misogynistic it is. It was the world back then ... we didn't know better to think about it much in those days. Seemed normal.. same with Archie Bunker. He was just like my grandfather. Carroll O'Connor sure did a hell of a job playing him. Completely opposite of the real person.

I like some new shows too (not terrified at all) :)

Captain Steel

07-13-17, 11:25 PM

No, not a spoiler I've seen Happy Days before when it first ran on TV...I agree with you that the show took a turn for the worse when Fonzie became the center of each episode. That's when it lost the feel of the 1950s and like you said becomes a strange mix of 70ish looks, set in the past.

I don't plan on watching the later episodes. I liked Fonzie's character the first few years, but later he became an obnoxious cartoon, with magic powers like you said.

I wouldn't mind seeing the earlier seasons myself.
Say hi to "Bag" for me.
(Do you remember Bag? A very minor character from the early episodes - I just remember him because he had "Bag" stitched on his jacket! Whoever the actor was, I remember that he reminded me of Jon Lovitz - or vice versa.) ;)

Citizen Rules

07-13-17, 11:27 PM

Nope, I don't remember Bag at all? Have you ever seen the pilot of Happy Days that aired as a segment on Love American Style?

Captain Steel

07-13-17, 11:29 PM

Nope, I don't remember Bag at all? Have you ever seen the pilot of Happy Days that aired as a segment on Love American Style?

Yes, a long long time ago. Before that, I always thought it was entirely inspired by American Graffitti (especially since the movie had Ron Howard in it... not to mention Cindy Williams!)

Citizen Rules

07-13-17, 11:32 PM

You're probably right about American Graffiti inspiring Happy Days.

Captain Steel

07-13-17, 11:36 PM

Nope, I don't remember Bag at all?

Couldn't find any clips of Bag on YouTube, but here's a photo...

https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/236x/af/11/9c/af119cb4a43fcfa59abfc47c3266def6.jpg

And if that's not bad enough, here's one of Bag and Ed Begley Jr.!!!
https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/236x/ba/43/3d/ba433dc26e5a56c813faf9ca18fc8d6c.jpg

According to IMDB his full name was Bag Zombroski (played by Neil J. Schwartz) and he appeared in 7 episodes!

Joel

07-13-17, 11:38 PM

Sir Toose

07-13-17, 11:39 PM

I was in the fifth grade when the demolition derby episode of Happy Days aired. It was absolutely the talk of the school both in waiting for it and in talking about it after. Watched it again recently... didn't stand up well to the test of time :) They used to do ads building up episodes. Robin Williams/Mork was another big Happy Days episode. The only thing bigger that I can remember was Sasquatch on The Six Million Dollar Man. Sent a bunch of 8-10 year olds in a frenzy :)

Sir Toose

07-13-17, 11:41 PM

I can never tire of Columbo, my all time favorite!

Now we can be best friends!

Captain Steel

07-13-17, 11:43 PM

And if that's not bad enough, here's one of Bag and Ed Begley Jr.!!!
https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/236x/ba/43/3d/ba433dc26e5a56c813faf9ca18fc8d6c.jpg

Not to keep going off on a tangent, but this photo just made me wonder if these two might have been the prototypes for Lenny and Squiggy? ;)

Sir Toose

07-13-17, 11:44 PM

Not to keep going off on a tangent, but this photo just made me wonder if these two might have been the prototypes for Lenny and Squiggy? ;)

Good call! I bet you're right.

Miss Vicky

07-13-17, 11:52 PM

Not sure why it is that people are so critical of the older shows. I will say though that I almost never enjoy watching older sitcoms that I didn't grow up watching or didn't watch while they were still in production. Something about them just doesn't click.

The one huge exception to this though is Blackadder, my all-time favorite show. I didn't watch that until 2001 or 2002, when a friend insisted that I had to see it after learning that I liked Mr. Bean. I can't say that it was instant love though - the first season is pretty mediocre - but the second season had me in stitches and the third and fourth were really good too.

Joel

07-14-17, 12:15 AM

I can never tire of Columbo, my all time favorite!

Now we can be best friends!

You know it!

I mean, when Columbo is electric shaving on the dock yard while lightly harassing his suspect...or when his voice gets obnoxiously loud when he's on another dock yard in that episode that made no sense...great stuff.

Captain Steel

07-14-17, 12:21 AM

You know it!

I mean, when Columbo is electric shaving on the dock yard while lightly harassing his suspect...or when his voice gets obnoxiously loud when he's on another dock yard in that episode that made no sense...great stuff.

Uh... Joel... just one more thing...

http://tvseriesfinale.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/Columbo-Pointing-e1354687464658.jpg

Citizen Rules

07-14-17, 02:52 AM

Not to keep going off on a tangent, but this photo just made me wonder if these two might have been the prototypes for Lenny and Squiggy? ;) Nah, Lenny and Squiggy (Michael McKean, David L. Lander) were writers on the Laverne & Shirley show and took self promotion to the 9th degree by writing themselves into the show. Thus providing a ton of job security.